I reach for my glass of water on the table to try and cool myself off. I can still feel his stare, but I refuse to turn around and look at him.
“Madison, are you okay? Your face is all red,” Savannah asks, gaining everyone’s attention at the table. Just kill me now.
I nod my head up and down, looking utterly ridiculous. “Yup. All good, just a little hot in here.” Joker's shoulders shake in silent laughter, and I swear he is one wrong move from me stabbing him with my fork. Okay, I probably won’t, but a girl can dream, right?
I’m so glad when the server comes around and starts taking everyone’s orders. I decided on a small salad because my stomach is not able to handle anything else right now.
“Why aren’t you eating more?” Joker says quietly so I can only hear, which I’m thankful for.
I turn my chair slightly so I can look at him better and shrug my shoulders. “I’m not that hungry.”
He narrows his eyes at me, not buying that. “Okay, I’m not buying that. Now tell me the real reason why you're not eating more.” I can tell by the dead-set look in his eyes that he’s not going to let this go.
I sigh and decide just to get this over with. “I’m nervous about tonight and something going wrong. What if someone gets hurt?”
“Hey no one is going to get hurt. I will protect you with my life. If there is a threat to you, then I will just eliminate them, end of.”
I was not expecting him to say that. Lord have mercy, I knew he was intense, but this is too much for my brain to handle right now. Thecrazy part is I know he would do it too for my protection. “No killing tonight, Joker. I mean it.”
He smirks at me, and I try not to stare at his lips. “Not even a little bit?”
“That doesn’t even make any sense. How do you kill someone only a little bit?” I don’t even know why I’m entertaining his crazy ass, but here we are. This lack of sleep is really getting to me. I can see everyone looking at us, trying not to laugh.
“So that’s a yes?” He smiles wide, making his dimples pop, giving him that boyish look, but I know better.
“In what universe is that a yes, Joker?” I bug my eyes out at him, giving him an incredulous look.
“Fine, no killing. Tonight.”
“Why are you always like this?”
“Like what? Handsome, smart, perfect?”
“ANNOYING!” I raise my voice, catching the stares of the other people in the restaurant. Joker doesn’t seem to care; he just throws his head back and laughs without a care in the world.
“Admit it, Madison, I’m growing on you?”
“Yeah, just like a fungus.” The sarcasm drips from my voice as he narrows his eyes at me.
“I think you should limit your time hanging out with the girls. You're just as mean as they are now.”
“And yet you're still annoying.”
He rubs his chin, looking deep in thought, which isn’t a good sign. “Okay, tell you what. We will call it a truce for tonight, and you can find out just how not annoying I really am.”
I know he’s up to something, but I can’t figure out what, and I know I’m going to regret this. “Fine, you have a deal.”
His smile is wide, which doesn’t sit well with me. “Perfect. I’ll bring the snacks. I can’t have you going hungry on our first date.”
I open and close my mouth, looking like a fish. “I did not agree to a date, Joker.”
He shrugs his shoulders and leans back in his chair, taking a sip of his beer. “Date, stakeout, what's the difference?”
I’m sitting there speechless as everyone starts laughing. I look at the girls, and they just give me a sympathetic look. Right now, I can't even look at Joker. A part of me got excited when he said date; the other part wants to run out of this restaurant scared. The server drops everyone's food off, and now that the salad is in front of me, it looks even more unappetizing. But I take a few bites just to get something in my stomach.
Once everyone has finished eating, Blade gets our attention. “Okay, so everyone knows what they have to do tonight. Joker and Madison will be in the bakery hiding. Crow will be watching from the camera’s alerting us when it’s go time. And the rest of us will be down the street out of view, but not too far that we can’t get to you in time. From what we have gathered, we believe this person might be a child, so we proceed with caution. After we catch them, we will bring them back to the clubhouse to figure out what’s been going on.” Everyone nods their heads and goes back to their conversations.
“Don’t worry, Madison; everything is going to be fine. So, any preference on the snacks for our date?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, making me narrow my eyes. “Right, surprise it is.” He winks at me and then turns his head to talk to Crow.
